The present invention relates to an actuator assembly for a disc drive, and more specifically to disc drives utilizing alignment pins and alignment apertures in xe2x80x9ctop-downxe2x80x9d assembly of actuator arm configurations.
Disc drives are data storage devices that store digital data in magnetic form on a storage medium on a rotating data disc. Modern disc drives comprise one or more rigid data discs that are coated with a magnetizable medium and mounted on the hub of a spindle motor for rotation at a constant high speed. An array of data transducers are mounted to an actuator arm and a servo system is used to move the actuator arm such that a particular transducer is positioned over a desired location for writing or reading information to and from the disc. During a write operation, the transducer writes data onto the disc and during a read operation the transducer senses the data previously written on the disc and transfers the information to an external environment.
There is a continuing push for disc drives with smaller physical dimensions. Smaller sized disc drives, however, are generally difficult to manufacture due to the complex assembly of conventional disc drives. Typical disc drives, for example, include a multiple arm housing that allows multiple head gimbal assemblies to be attached. A coil in a voice coil motor is generally attached to the housing by either adhesive bonding or overmolding. Moreover, a bearing cartridge and side mounted pre-amplifier circuit is also typically attached to the housing. Such arrangements tend to increase the physical size of conventional disc drives to greater than desirable dimensions.
Embodiments of the present invention solve the above and other problems by mounting an arm circuit in a xe2x80x9ctop-downxe2x80x9d configuration on the top or bottom surface of an actuator arm using alignment pins and alignment apertures. Thus, an embodiment generally involves an actuator assembly for reading and writing data from and to a data disc. The actuator assembly includes an actuator arm rotatably mounted adjacent the data disc. The actuator arm has a top surface and a bottom surface, and includes a head gimbal assembly support portion located at one end of the actuator arm. The actuator assembly includes an arm circuit fastened to the top surface of the actuator arm. The actuator assembly further includes an arm circuit alignment aperture on the arm circuit and an arm circuit alignment pin on the actuator arm. The arm circuit alignment aperture receives the arm circuit alignment pin for positioning of the arm circuit on the top surface of the actuator arm.
The actuator assembly includes a head gimbal assembly. The head gimbal assembly is fastened to the head gimbal assembly support portion of the actuator arm and contains a data transducer for writing and reading data to and from the data disc. Furthermore, the actuator assembly may include a gimbal circuit that electrically couples the data transducer and the arm circuit. The gimbal circuit is partially routed along the head gimbal assembly and over the top surface of the actuator arm. The actuator assembly in accordance with an embodiment also includes a gimbal circuit alignment aperture on the gimbal circuit and a gimbal circuit alignment pin on the actuator arm. The gimbal circuit alignment aperture receives the gimbal circuit alignment pin to position of the gimbal circuit accurately over and on the top surface of the actuator arm. The head gimbal assembly can then be swaged, laser-welded, or screw mounted to the actuator arm.
These and various other features as well as advantages, which characterize an embodiment of the present invention, will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings.